California Takes Controversial Approach to Fentanyl Crisis

Contact Your Elected Officials
The Epoch Times Header

California spends billions to stigmatize smoking, while destigmatizing the deadliest drug in U.S. history.

By now the statistics are familiar: Fentanyl is killing Americans at an unprecedented rateโ€”around 73,000 annually.

For those aged 18 to 45, it is the leading cause of death.

And itโ€™s everywhereโ€”tainting counterfeit pills, poisoning children and adults, addicts and first-time users, overwhelming any potential response. As a deluge of pills and powder flows across the southern border, authorities regularly seize enough fentanyl to kill everyone on earth, several times over.

Into this carnage, a windfall.

Nationwide, more than $50 billion is expected to flow from legal settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors over the next two decadesโ€”with California in line to receive about $4 billion, divvied up among the state and local governments.

This money will now largely go to abating illicit fentanylโ€”the third wave in an opioid crisis that began with prescription pain medication in the 1990s.

In the first two years, California state programs have primarily used their share for โ€œharm reductionโ€ effortsโ€”including opioid overdose reversal medication, needle exchange, and public education campaigns aimed at destigmatizing drug use.

Nationally, experts and progressive advocates are keeping a close eye on settlement spending, in an effort to avoid mistakes of Big Tobacco settlements and ensure funds go to actual abatement, rather than plugging municipal budgets.

But some wonder if another obvious lesson from the fight against Big Tobaccoโ€”in which stigmatization, graphic warnings about the dangers of cigarettes, and enforcement led to a radical decrease in smokingโ€”is missing from the stateโ€™s approach to the fentanyl crisis.

Californiaโ€™s Department of Public Health recently gave a San Francisco-based advertising agency $40 million in opioid settlement funds to produce a youth awareness campaign that aims to โ€œmeet people where they areโ€ by reducing stigma around using fentanyl and other drugs and encouraging the use of naloxone.

According to state records, the department has also paid that same advertising company nearly $900 million to produce campaigns that expressly stigmatize tobacco use and encourage abstinence from it.

Byย Beige Luciano-Adams

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

The Epoch Times
The Epoch Timeshttps://www.theepochtimes.com/
Tired of biased news? The Epoch Times is truthful, factual news that other media outlets don't report. No spin. No agenda. Just honest journalism like it used to be.

On the Major Leagueโ€™s periphery: A major trip through the minors

For Nick Dunn, the trek through the minors is a trifecta of physical, mental, and organizational hurdles filled with politics, roster volatility, and injuries.

Peace In Ukraine Wonโ€™t End The Westโ€™s Hybrid War On Russia

The Westโ€™s Hybrid War on Russia to follow peace in Ukraine is inevitable due to neoconservatives and liberal-globalists in its decision-making ecosystem.

Was Texas Storm Manmade?

Another โ€œ1-in-100 yearsโ€ weather event in Kerr County happened next to a Texas designated โ€œWeather Modification Map of Rain-Enhancement Projects in Texasโ€.

The America Party Will Harm Democrats The Most

Elon Musk formed the America Party after an X poll asking his followers if they wanted โ€œindependence from the two-party system!

Democrats Exhibit the Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE)

โ€œThe Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their competence, while those with high ability underestimate their competence.

Doctor Groups Sue RFK Jr. Over Altered COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations

Health Sec. RFK, Jr.โ€™s decision to remove recommendations that healthy children and pregnant women receive COVID-19 vaccines was illegal, lawsuit alleges.

Los Angeles Mayor Confronts Federal Immigration Officers at MacArthur Park

After decrying federal immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass confronted ICE officers as they gathered at a city park.

What We Know About Victims of Texas Floods

The death toll from a series of devastating Texas floods over the July 4 weekend has risen to more than 100 people, many of whom are children.

Trial Begins Over Trump Adminโ€™s Deportations of Pro-Palestinian Students

A trial over President Trumpโ€™s attempts to deport pro-Palestinian activists began on July 7 with attorneys debating free speech.

Top Trump Officials to Hold Trade Talks With China in August

The Trump administrationโ€™s top trade negotiators are set to meet with Chinese officials in early August, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.

Trump, Netanyahu Meet for 2nd Consecutive Day at White House to Discuss Gaza

U.S. President Donald Trump is hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 8 for a second consecutive day.

Trump Extends Federal Hiring Freeze Until October

Trump issued memo extending federal hiring freeze until Oct. 15, maintaining exemptions for positions related to the armed forces and public safety.

US to Send More Defensive Weapons to Ukraine

The Pentagon is sending more defensive weapons to Ukraine amid the Eastern European countryโ€™s ongoing war with Russia.
spot_img

Related Articles